William Black Part 1

William Black.

by John Maclean.

PREFACE.

While there are several sketches of the life and work of the subject of this book, they are all based upon the "Memoirs of William Black"

by the Rev. Matthew Richey, D. D., which was published in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1839. Some additional information is to be found in Dr. T. Watson Smith's History of the Methodist Church of Eastern British America. The former volume contains the interesting Journal of the famous missionary, and is therefore of great value. As it has long been out of print, and it is well-nigh impossible to secure an old copy, and as there is no likelihood of it being republished, we have deemed it commendable to publish the following pages. We have sought to condense as far as possible, giving the chief facts in his life, and to produce in popular form a volume which might be read with profit, and within the reach of all. As a study of spiritual forces and an appreciation, it might have been enlarged to considerable size, and it has been difficult indeed to keep within the limits which we had set for the volume, but that would have been to defeat our object, of writing a small book, in which the salient features of his life and work were seen, and at such a price that the poorest in the land might secure a copy.

We dare not forget the work of our fathers, and we must not permit the memory of William Black to be lost in oblivion, for he builded better than he knew, and we are heirs of his work and influence, and his example is a stimulus to us all. In that spirit have these pages been written, and we hope that they will help keep alive the memory of a great and n.o.ble man, a pioneer and patriot, who gave his life for Christ and his fellow man.

JOHN MACLEAN.

WESLEYAN OFFICE, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

_WILLIAM BLACK._

I.

THE BIRTH OF A MOVEMENT.

Had Longfellow the poet extended his studies a few years later than the time of the event which formed the subject of Evangeline, he would have come in contact with another race of men, of different breed, language and faith, than that of the Acadians, who were as brave as any of those who sailed away from the valley of the Gaspereaux. For almost coincident with the expulsion of these hardy folk from the fertile fields of the Annapolis Valley, there came visitors from the New England colonies, induced by offers of land, but these were deterred from settlement on account of a fear lest freedom of religious worship should not be accorded them.

Brought up under the influence of the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers, they prized too highly their religious liberty to barter it for lands or gold, and not until a second proclamation was issued, granting liberty of conscience and worship to all Protestants, did settlers come in large numbers. Five years after the Acadians were expelled emigrants began to arrive in considerable numbers from New England and from Great Britain and Ireland. This was the beginning of a new era, in which the principles of the Protestant Reformation were to be tested, upon soil consecrated by the faith and piety of the Roman Catholic exiles, and an opportunity was found for the expression of the new faith in the moulding of individual character.

While the province was issuing invitations for new settlers and wishing to grant concessions to st.u.r.dy and loyal folks, a great awakening was taking place in England, the influence of which was destined to become a strong factor in making a new race on the Western Continent, and to mould in a great measure the social and religious life of the people of Nova Scotia. A revival of spiritual life was in progress under the preaching of Wesley and Whitefield, which was quickening the consciences of the people, imparting high ideals and renovating the social and political life of the nation.

Methodism was doing greater things for the English speaking race than Luther among the Germans, as it infused a spirit of joy and freedom from ritual, with greater liberty of thought and action. It was an era of great names beyond the pale of the national church. The pa.s.sion for souls became so intense in the hearts of many of the clergy that they gladly espoused the hated name of "Methodist," while others no less zealous stood aloof from the special movement because of its Arminian doctrines.

Whitefield, the prince of orators, stalked through the land proclaiming salvation for sinners, and not content with conquests won in the sea-girt isles, he needs must cross the ocean to tell the story of the ages to wondering thousands. John Berridge, the witty yet zealous vicar of Everton, itinerated through the country and in one year saw not less that four thousand awakened. William Grimshaw, the eccentric curate of Haworth, superintended two Methodist circuits while attending to his own parish, and Vincent Perronet, vicar of Sh.o.r.eham, who was so trusted a counsellor that Charles Wesley called him the Archbishop of Methodism, gave two sons to the Methodist ministry, and besides being the author of the hymn, "All Hail the power of Jesus Name," Wesley dedicated to him the "Plain Account of the People called Methodists."

The great revival brought into greater prominence Rowland Hill, the eccentric preacher; Augustus Toplady, the author of the Hymn "Rock of Ages;" Howell Harris, the famous Welsh orator, and the Countess of Huntingdon. These and many others were brought into closer touch with the great spiritual movement, at the period when Nova Scotia was bidding for settlers, by the famous controversy on Calvinism, which was full of spleen, and has shown us how good men may retain their piety, and still say bitter and nasty things, and use gross epithets in their zeal for religious doctrines.

But Methodism, though treated as a sect composed of ignorant and illiterate folks, was not lacking in men of culture and force. It had discovered the secret of picking men from the streets and transforming them into saints and scholars, and it was successful in its efforts.

It found Thomas Olivers, a drunken Welsh shoemaker, and led him on, till he became known as a great force in the pulpit, and the author of that majestic lyric, "The G.o.d of Abraham praise" and of the tune "Helmsley," sung to the hymn, "Lo, He comes with clouds descending."

It laid hands upon Samuel Bradburn, the shoemaker, and developed his gifts by the grace of G.o.d, until his discourses, rich in sublimity, and pulsating with great thoughts, charmed mult.i.tudes, and his eloquence was so irresistible that Adam Clarke, the famous scholar, declared that he had never heard his equal, and could give no idea of his powers as an orator. In its ranks at this period were to be found able scholars as Joseph Benson, the commentator, Fletcher, the saintly and acute theologian of the new movement, and Thomas Walsh, whom Wesley called, "that blessed man," and of whom he said, that, he was so thoroughly acquainted with the Bible that "if he were questioned concerning any Hebrew word in the Old, or any Greek in the New Testament, he would tell after a brief pause, not only how often the one or the other occurred in the Bible, but what it meant in every place. Such a master of Biblical knowledge he says he never saw before, and never expected to see again."

There were many others possessed of great gifts and culture, whose hearts were set on fire with a pa.s.sion for souls, and the revival started spiritual forces which were felt far beyond the sh.o.r.es of Great Britain.

Wesley was drawing near to seventy years of age, and while travelling incessantly, and preaching every day, he was engaged in the publication of a collected edition of his works, in thirty-two duodecimo volumes. The Calvinistic controversy was at its height, the first anniversary of Trevecca College, the pet scheme of the Countess of Huntingdon, had just been held, and Fletcher was writing his famous "Checks to Antinomianism," yet, the founder of the Methodist movement was looking for other worlds to conquer, by the preaching of the Cross.

Wesley's early a.s.sociations with America as a missionary to Georgia, naturally gave him an interest in the affairs of the western continent, and Whitefield's frequent visits helped to deepen Wesley's love for the people among whom he had spent the early years of his ministry. Whitefield had crossed the ocean and visited America seven times, and his visits were seasons of great power, when thousands were converted, and when he suddenly died at Newburyport, there pa.s.sed from earth one of the greatest pulpit orators and evangelists in the history of the Christian Church. His death was an invitation to renewed efforts for the evangelization of America. The Countess of Huntingdon and her ministers organized a missionary band, which labored with much success in Savannah and the surrounding country, especially among the African population.

Methodism was neither silent nor powerless in sharing in the progress of the Gospel, and striving to evangelize the new world. While the great revival was stirring the heart of England, a small band of German "Palatines" which Methodism had redeemed from demoralization in Ireland, emigrated to New York, among whom was Philip Embury, and these were followed by Barbara Heck and her friends, through whose efforts Methodism found a secure place in America. The new movement received an impetus from the preaching of Captain Webb, and a call for preachers was sent to Wesley, with the result that Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor were sent. Later Francis Asbury, the faithful preacher and administrator, followed, and Methodism became a church.

Meanwhile Lawrence Coughlan had found his way to Newfoundland, and laid foundations upon which others built.

Bermuda had been visited by Whitefield, and in the general awakening it could not be expected that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island would be forgotten. It was a period of emigration and revival, and in the great commotion, the present Maritime Provinces of Canada shared in the blessings of the new movement.

During the period of emigration to Nova Scotia, four different parties came from Yorkshire, England, the first arriving in 1772. It was natural to expect, that coming from a district, memorable as the scene of many visits from the Wesleys, a bit of land consecrated with the tears and labors of John Nelson, the stalwart hero, and kept fresh with the hallowed memories of the saintly Hester Ann Rogers, there should be among the emigrants many who were loyal and devoted Methodists. Yorkshire Methodism was of that strenuous type which must give expression to its faith in hearty song, and lively preaching, and these st.u.r.dy settlers were an acquisition to the province, which the politicians were sufficiently alert to see, could not fail to supply the elements of stability and growth.

The majority of these people settled in the county of c.u.mberland, and began life anew, with intense loyalty to the inst.i.tutions, and high ideals. The province had not fully recovered from the effect of the spirit of disloyalty which culminated in the expulsion of the Acadians, although there followed a period of peace, but despite the efforts of the Government in making roads, and inst.i.tuting public works, the settlements were spa.r.s.e, and the Indian was still in the land. There was only one minister in the county, the Rev. John Eagleson, who had been sent out in 1769 by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, while in the province there were a few Anglican, Congregational, Presbyterian and one Baptist church, but places for holding religious worship were few and far between, and the first Methodists consequently began prayer meetings in their homes, and through them souls were led to Christ. Whatever religious services were held they attended, and thus kept alive the glowing embers of their faith and zeal.

An incipient rebellion, induced by the Revolutionary war, and maintained by the sympathy of the colonists who had revolted in New England, unsettled the minds of the people, and made it dangerous for them to attend religious worship, and consequently the cause of religion suffered, and many forsook the faith of their fathers. A few still remained true, and amid many discouragements prayed for the dawn of a new day.

Without any propagandist effort, Methodism was spreading.

Spontaneously it had gone out over Great Britain and Ireland, and into what is now the United States, to the West Indies, and Nova Scotia, but the time was ripe for complete organization as a missionary church. The time had come and with it the man in the person of Thomas c.o.ke. While Nova Scotia and the American colonies were suffering from the Revolution, Wesley and c.o.ke had met for the first time, and thus began a union which made Methodism a great missionary organization.

The man for America had not yet come to the fullness of his power, but Francis Asbury was reaching out and getting ready to become essentially the founder of Methodism in the United States. The man for Nova Scotia had not yet arrived, as he was only a stripling at his father's home in Amherst, and was still a stranger to the grace of G.o.d.

The introduction of Methodism into Nova Scotia was not the establishment of a sect or a party in dogmatic theology, but it was the revival of spiritual Christianity, exempt from the trammels of ecclesiasticism and the exclusiveness of dogmatism. As such it became a strong and elevating factor in the social life of the people, imparting lofty ideals, which were wrought out in moral strength, making loyal citizens and men and women of power and gentleness.

There was something lacking to secure unity and strength in the scattered forces of the new movement. Prayer meetings and preaching services were held, and souls were won to the faith, still there was no organization and there could not be until a leader should come forth, who would command by his genius and concentrated effort unity of administration.

Though not the original founder of Methodism in Eastern British America, the man who in the providence of G.o.d was destined to unite the scattered forces and to give birth to the new movement, and who, by his intrepid spirit and enthusiastic and incessant labours as a great evangelist, was to spread the doctrines which were so full of power in the revival in England, throughout that portion of territory now known as the Maritime Provinces, was William Black, a man of faith and power, whose memory is revered by thousands, and whose descendants still abide with us.

II.

MAKING THE MAN.

William Black was well born. The time was auspicious. The date of his birth is 1760, and with that date as a centre, despite the fact that the tone of public morality was low, there are names belonging to the period which suggest genius and influence. Edward Young had just published his "Night Thoughts," Thomson, the poet and author of "The Seasons," and Isaac Watts had just pa.s.sed away, Lord Littleton had written "The Conversion of St. Paul," Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" was being eagerly read by the people, Blackstone's famous "Commentaries on the Laws of England," had made a profound impression, Johnson had completed his "Dictionary" and Oliver Goldsmith was writing his immortal works. There were others who were in the heat of the literary battle. This period saw the beginning of the modern novel in the writings of Richardson, Fielding and Smollett, then too was published Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations," Hume's "History of England," and Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." The two great literary frauds in our language were then given to the world in Chatterton's "Poems," and Macpherson's "Ossian." It was the age of Pitt and Burke, and Fox, of Horace Walpole and Chesterfield in English politics, Benjamin Franklin was then a potent force in America, Butler and Paley and Warburton, and Jonathan Edwards and Doddridge with many other equally powerful names were moulding the theology of the age.

Greater than any of these, however, were the Wesleys and Whitefield, as they raised both sides of the Atlantic to new ideals, and stirred the nation to a larger and deeper life.

William Black came into the world at a time when great events were being done, and though he was still young when he left the land of his birth, the silent and unseen forces which work upon men's minds and souls could not be without their influence upon him.

He was born at Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, an important market town, beautifully situated on a slope of a hill in the valley of the Colne, fifteen miles distant from Bradford, and a little over sixteen from Leeds. It was a place of considerable antiquity, being mentioned in Domesday, but its chief importance dates from the establishment of the woolen industry, being now the princ.i.p.al seat of the fancy woolen trade in England. Kirlees Park, three miles from the town, is popularly supposed to be the burial place of the famous Robin Hood.

When William Black was only five years old John Wesley preached to a large congregation in the Rev. Henry Venn's Church in the town. This man of G.o.d was a zealous Methodist Churchman, who made Huddersfield the headquarters of extensive labors in all the neighboring region, sympathizing with the great Methodist revival, accompanying Whitefield on evangelistic tours, and for more than thirty years, he co-operated with the Wesleys and other workers in many parts of England and Wales.

Though still retaining his connection with the Church of England, he continued in labors abundant, preaching in private houses, barns and in the open air, until old age. His son, the Rev. John Venn, became the projector of the Church Missionary Society. Methodism was firmly established in Huddersfield, and its influences were not unknown to the Black family. In 1767, one fourth of the members of the Methodist Church in the United Kingdom were in Yorkshire, and among the first settlers who came to Nova Scotia were some who were identified with that church, and had listened to Wesley and his preachers.

William Black, the father of the future pioneer and evangelist, was born in 1727, in Paisley, Scotland, a large manufacturing town noted for its shawls, great preachers, and the birthplace of Tannahill, the poet. He came of an independent family, as learned from the fact that his father kept a pack of hounds, and spent his leisure in the chase.

When he attained his majority he became a traveller for a large industry, which necessitated some journeys to England, and there he met his future wife, and made his home in Huddersfield. The spell of Scottish literature must have fallen upon the young man, for Robert Burns, the poet, was then at the height of his fame, Alexander Wilson, a native of Paisley, had not yet won his place as a poet, though he too, emigrated to America, and became the pioneer and founder of American Ornithology, but there were other writers whose impress must have been felt by the Scotch youth.

In Elizabeth Stocks he found a lady of refinement and wealth, and the future missionary a good Christian mother. She had been converted at sixteen years of age, and her influence upon the home, and especially upon the lad was elevating, and destined to leave its mark upon the future. The father, with Scotch shrewdness, made a visit to Nova Scotia to spy out the land before removing his family from their English home. The mother watched tenderly over all the members of the family, but William, the second oldest, seemed to call for special care, and her tears and prayers found full fruition in after years, when she had pa.s.sed to her reward. Frequently did she relate to her son William the story of her conversion, and with tears besought him to serve G.o.d. Alone she prayed with him, and pressed home upon his conscience the necessity of being born again. Surely this child was born well, and his future was not all of his own making.

He must have been a precocious child, or else his religious sensitiveness must have been induced by his mother's teaching, influenced by the great doctrines of the Methodist revival. We are not now accustomed to hear a child of six years of age, bewailing his lost state in language suggestive of Bunyan's condition, when he was under deep conviction of sin. He tells us that when he was five years old he had some serious impressions, and G.o.d's Spirit began to operate upon his mind, and when he was six, he often wished that he was a toad or a serpent, because they had no soul, and were not in danger of being lost forever. Again he says, that many times before he was ten years old, he "would have overturned G.o.d's government and dethroned the gracious Author of my being." He enumerates his early vices and lashes his soul in despair. Such religious sentiments in one so young seem to mark him as one who had in his soul the elements of a monk, and we should not have been surprised had he become a zealous disciple of Saint Francis of a.s.sisi.

Like John Wesley, whose escape from perishing in the burning of the Epworth parsonage is noted as a remarkable providence, William Black had a narrow escape from drowning in a large trough when a child, and this circ.u.mstance made a lasting and favorable impression on his mind.

In his mature years he recalled the event with grat.i.tude to G.o.d.

Several years of his childhood were spent with his maternal uncle, Mr.

Thomas Stocks, at Otley, where he was placed at school. There he remained until he was about thirteen years of age, when the disciplinary rules of the school, and very likely a severe castigation, so annoyed him, that he left his uncle's care and returned to his father's home. His father was at that time making preparations for his voyage to Nova Scotia, and deemed it prudent to allow the lad to remain with his mother, though he had decided objections to his apparent ingrat.i.tude and stubbornness, in leaving the home of his uncle. Under the influence of his mother's teaching and prayers, his religious impressions were deepened, but the jests of his companions at school made him stifle his convictions, and continue his career of youthful carelessness and sin.